Philosophy

“Christianity is not a philosophical speculation; it is not a construction of our mind.Christianity is not “our” work; it is a Revelation, and we have no right to reconstruct it.” (Pope Benedict XVI).

Assumption of the Virgin (Lyon Reni)

When I was a school girl, during the final couple of years of school I studied philosophy. My school’s principal had a Doctorate in Philosophy and during our senior school years she came into our classroom and taught us a couple of times a week. During those classes – which were not examinable in the HSC – I learned several interesting things.

For example, I learned about the different types of souls that all living things have – plants have a vegetative soul, animals an animal soul and humans (and angels) a spiritual soul. Of all the souls, only the spiritual soul can live forever and this is why when human beings die, they are actually born to eternal life. This is also why the angels are so much more powerful than us mere mortals – because their spiritual soul was created to be unfettered by mortal flesh…

When the Blessed Virgin was assumed into Heaven – body and soul – it is said that the angels wondered at her magnificence – so gloriously beautiful is her soul. The Blessed Virgin’s spiritual soul is more beautiful than the souls of the angels, and it is for this reason that she is considered God’s MASTERPIECE of creation.

In all the visions of the Blessed Virgin that have been recognised in the history of the church, the beauty of the Blessed Virgin has been a central theme of the vision – a beauty indescribable in human terms…

While I have been remembering those old philosophy lessons of mine, I have stumbled across words written by the late Pope Benedict XVI when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger. And his words are as follows, “Christianity is not a philosophical speculation; it is not a construction of our mind. Christianity is not “our” work; it is a Revelation, and we have no right to reconstruct it.”

And I have been reflecting on that today. You see, philosophy is very much around the idea of reconstructing a premise (a theory or thesis) and considering that theory from various different angles to understand whether the theory can apply under various circumstances. Once a theory can withstand various stresses (caused by the different scenarios thrown at the theory) then it can be accepted as the overarching and predominant philosophy.

But Christianity is something different… Christianity is a revelation. And being a revelation, it is not something that is to be proved or reconstructed and recalculated to fit within the theory or thesis that we have already designed. Instead, Christianity is a gift.

And I have been reflecting on that today. For it seems that I was given this gift of faith, and I really have no idea how lucky that really makes me…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.